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March 13, 2025
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Engineering Social Presence
Hello everyone,
I wanted to share an exciting opportunity that I think might align with our ongoing discussions about learner engagement and social presence in online learning. The main reason I am a member of this group is because I am deeply passionate about finding innovative ways to connect with students and create dynamic online learning environments.
I am also a member of the AECT Association of Educational Communication and Technology - Learner Engagement Division. We were all sharing resources for learner engagement at our meeting today and I ambassador(ed) our Social Presence Lab portal and invited participants to our monthly workshop series.
We were exploring how we can apply learning engineering frameworks to course design. Learning engineering, in essence, is about taking a systematic, data-driven approach to designing and optimizing learning experiences and it is about applying rigorous methods to understand how learners learn, and then using that knowledge to create more effective and engaging instruction. I could not help thinking about the application of engineering frameworks to social presence development strategies. We discussed the cognitive capabilities of the brain in multi-tasking, and considered theories about whether the brain was really able to do more than one task at a time.
One attendee asked for advice about facilitating face-to-face instruction with adult learners who appeared to be constantly checking their mobile devices. With a great concern that they would not be able to absorb all of the information at once, there were suggestions for how to bring them back to the learning environment. One recommendation was for them to employ a mobile learning app, like Padlet or Poll Everywhere, to get immediate feedback from the learners in hopes of rekindling their interest and directing their attention on the lesson at hand (using the mobile device in their hand).
The person that brought up the potential for engineering frameworks for learner engagement shared this workshop that I thought might prove to be useful for members of our discussion group. It is hosted by ICICLE International Consortium for Innovation and Collaboration in Learning Engineering which is a division of the IEEE standards association. The workshop is entitled "Application of Learning Engineering Across Post-Secondary Contexts," and will be held on Wednesday, March 26th, 2025 at 1 pm ET/10 am PT. The session will provide an overview of learning engineering, share use cases on its application in higher education, and offer a chance to ask questions and discuss ideas. https://sagroups.ieee.org/icicle/
I think this workshop could offer some fresh perspectives and ideas in how to use engineering principles to enhance social presence when designing online courses. It occurred to me that using data-driven insights to tailor interactions, personalize feedback, and perhaps to design collaborative activities might be an effective way to gauge and measure connected learning strategies.
The Learning Engagement Division of AECT also offers the Learner Engagement Activated Podcast with Anne Fensie that is another great resource for ideas in how to promote social presence in our online learning environments.
https://learnerengagement.podbean.com/
I look forward to hearing your thoughts and sharing more ideas and resources to help our learners connect, build competencies, and succeed!
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3 Replies
Thank you for sharing this, I hope others consider checking it out! As someone who does not teach in a face-to-face environment, I have not had to worry about mobile device distraction; however, I have seen the teachers at my daughters' high school grapple with it. I do like the idea of incorporating the mobile device, as your colleague suggested - the Poll Everyone app - instead of a more restrictive approach. I believe that, overall, is a better way to approach the challenge overall.
Thank you for sharing the webinar recommendation! It sounds very interesting, and I would love to explore how we can merge social presence with the learning engineering framework. I think this could be a fascinating area to dive into, and I am always open to learning more intentional strategies that increase engagement and strengthen connections within the classroom.
I also really like the suggestion of using mobile learning apps like Padlet and Poll Everywhere to enhance in-person instruction. Incorporating technology in ways that promote active participation is such a great way to help adult learners refocus and stay engaged with the material, whether it is online or in-person. Some of my favorite interactive/gamification tools right now are Menti, Blooket, and Genially.
Thank you again for sharing these great ideas and resources!
-Elizabeth
Elizabeth Larson Thank you for your feedback Elizabeth, and for the additional resources you recommend for creating more interactivity. I've seen Genially used very creatively by my instructional design students. The content looks very professional in comparison to Captivate and Articulate, which are normally recommended to design learning solutions.
In regard to my initial post, I brought back some links from the Learning Engineering workshop I thought you all might like an opportunity to peruse. The Learning Engineering Toolkit is a text that offers foundational principles for Learning Engineering frameworks. I hope you find this information useful in developing ways to create stronger social connection with learners online using Learning Engineering and systematic concepts that may apply.
Below are additional resources connected to ICICLE International Consortium for Innovation and Collaboration in Learning Engineering, a division of the IEEE standards organization:
ICICLE - Events
ICICLE - SIGs & MIGs
ICICLE - Learning Engineering Toolkit
https://sagroups.ieee.org/icicle/resources/
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